Studies in the Transmission of Latin Texts: Volume I: Quintus Curtius Rufus and Dictys Cretensis

This volume offers a comprehensive study of all the knownmanuscripts and incunables of two works: the history of Alexanderthe Great written by Quintus Curtius Rufus, probably in the firstcentury AD, and the translation into Latin by Lucius Septimius ofthe spoof history of the Trojan War, allegedly written at the timeof that war by a certain Dictys Cretensis. Drawing on in excess of200 witnesses, the analysis reveals how the text of Curtius in allour extantmanuscripts descends from one damaged copy that survived from theRoman Empire into the Middle Ages, and how the text of Dictyssurvived in two such copies. It demonstrates that clear anddecisive results can be achieved by application of the so-calledstemmatic method, and how the application of thoseresults will lead to several improvements to our standard text ofDictys. As well as determining which manuscripts future editorsshould use in editing these texts and examining them in detail, italso offers equally full discussion of those which will not beneeded, establishing many localizations and derivations. The resultis a large body of material that will help deepen our knowledge ofthe transmission of classical Latin texts, especially in theRenaissance, as well as our knowledge ofscribal practice and of techniques that can be deployed in thegenealogical study of manuscripts and incunables.